New US sanctions against Moscow over its military intervention in Ukraine on Wednesday targeted Russian banks and elites, including Putin’s daughters Katerina and Maria, who are believed to be hiding their father’s assets.
“Of course we consider these sanctions in themselves to be an extension of a completely angry position on the imposition of restrictions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov told reporters. “In any case, the ongoing line to impose restrictions on family members speaks for itself.”
Peshkov said the Kremlin could not understand why Putin’s daughters would be targeted.
“This is something that is difficult to understand and explain,” he said. “Unfortunately, we have to deal with such opponents.”
Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova is a technology executive whose work supports the Russian government and its defense industry, according to details in a U.S. sanctions package announced Wednesday.
His other daughter, Maria Vorontsova, is leading government-funded programs that have received billions of dollars from the Kremlin for genetic research and are personally overseen by Putin, the United States has said.
Putin has always kept his and his family’s privacy out of the limelight. The Kremlin often dismisses questions about them, citing its right to privacy.
Russia sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine on February 24 in a special operation to downgrade its southern neighbor’s military capabilities and kill people it called dangerous nationalists.
Ukrainian forces have put up fierce resistance and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in a bid to force it to withdraw.
